brown algae yuck!!!!!

J

jason2894

cichlids,cichlids,cichlids!!!!!!!!!
Jan 13, 2006
166
0
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Ohio
ok i am experiencing brown alage on my rocks and starting to accumulate on the glass. i dont mind it so much on the rocks but if i can irradicate it i would like too lol the green stuff doesnt bother me near as much as the brown algae. ok heres my water parameters as of 2 minutes ago i used AP master test kit just incase u needed to know.

Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrate 10 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
pH 8.0

the inahbitants of my tank dont seem to mind the algae its just an eye sore btw the tank houses melanchromis exasparatus, yellow labs, red finned borleyi, and a red shoulder peacock. i know my pH is a lil low i guess its back to the LFS for some more crushed coral .
 
If I were you, I'd be more concerned about the ammonia than the algae. There are scrapers you can buy for the algae.
 
ok just a little update lol i did about a 50 -60 % water change and ammonia is back at 0 i guess i need to keep a lil closer eye on that i been doing a 50% 1x weekly but i may have to up that a lil bit as for the algae i guess i'll just have to but another magnetic scraper.
 
How long has the tank been set up? Is the tank fully cycled? I would watch the ammonia and other peremeters in the tank and make sure that they stay at zero and the nitrates below 20ppm. If the tank has not been up and running for very long and it is a relatively new set up, then what you are experiencing with the brown algae is called diatoms. It is a natural part of the process when the tank matures and is caused from the silicas(sp) in the glass that leech out but over the course of time this will go away on its own even if you did nothing about it. In the meantime, it is easily removed manually.

Marinemom
 
Yes..please make sure your tank is fully cycled.

I always have a diatom algae problem. The more frequent or the larger my water changes, the more the stuff shows up. My employeer had our tap water tested and our home source is the same. Everything looked great but the silicates came out as 6.6 PPM.

I may end up with an RO/DI unit or buying silicate removing resins. Don't assume your tapwater is free of silicates. Many older municipalities filter water through a hugh sand bed therefore impregnating the water with silicates.
 
eyeman said:
Yes..please make sure your tank is fully cycled.

I always have a diatom algae problem. The more frequent or the larger my water changes, the more the stuff shows up. My employeer had our tap water tested and our home source is the same. Everything looked great but the silicates came out as 6.6 PPM.

I may end up with an RO/DI unit or buying silicate removing resins. Don't assume your tapwater is free of silicates. Many older municipalities filter water through a hugh sand bed therefore impregnating the water with silicates.
Click to expand...

you could add a bunch of oto's to the tank ..they loooove diatoms..
 
yes Ottos do, but then you must continue to feed them after they eaten all of it....plus they tend to be very delicate and die even under the best situations.

I would spend more time figuring out the cause of, or how to reduce the algae...then buying more fish. The cycle questions are valid, as well as determining if this tank is being over-stocked or excessive feeding which is supporting the growth of algae.

It is common (myself included) to quickly just add algae eaters to remove a problem that in many cases is our own fault, or within our ability to fix.
 
Actually, I do have 4 fat happy ottos in my 75 Gallon community tank but they (although I have not tried) would not survive in my 55 Tangyikan community, 38 Gallon Malawi, or 20L Lamp. Ocellatus tanks.
 
with the fish you are keeping you dont want to destroy all the algae. those fish will feed off of the algae in the tank. In the wild algae is their main diet. Ottos would not be a good choice for your tank they will get eaten. It sounds like you dont have adaquet filteration what filtration do you have?
 
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